From The Jam At The Aladdin

Though the idea about a Weller-less Jam embarking on a world tour playing the songs that made them famous over 25 years ago may seem like a bad idea to some (out of hand, I was thinking along the lines of "dubious, at best" (see my INITIAL THOUGHTS at the news of their U.S. tour), I'm quite happy to say that the From The Jam gig at the Aladdin on Wednesday night was indeed a great night out.



It was clear from the enthusiasm that Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler showed while performing that this undertaking was indeed a labour of love, an acknowledgment of classic songs that still mean something to a lot of people, including the band themselves. Guitarist Russell Hastings, the new "Weller" I suppose, told the crowd that "this songs means more to me now than it did back then" while introducing When You're Young. Hastings and fellow new man in the band, guitarist/keyboardist Dave Moore, did a great job in fleshing out the live sound of the songs.



I had also worried a bit about the size of the crowd beforehand, considering they had never played here before, but it was a decent audience indeed, a nice mix of long time fans and those younger ones keen on good music that was around at the time they were barely born, with the majority showing a knowledge of the band's past repertoire.


Songs from every album were played, though the first two albums were only represented by their title cuts on the night. Happily, All Mod Cons and Setting Sons were the eras with the most tracks played, along with a great selection of non-album singles and tracks to provide a complete overview of their work.


A couple of tracks that I hadn't really thought about in a while, It's Too Bad and Little Boy Soldiers, were welcomely played and sounded great, in particular the latter song. If When You're Young was a moment of contemporary revelation for Hastings, mine came in the middle section of Soldiers, a chill went down my spine hearing the lines about the lullaby and tales.



Other personal faves of mine that were got played were Butterfly Collector, Strange Town, and Private Hell. Hastings told a man who had been holding a Woking F.C. scarve that "this is for you!" before the band launched into a fierce version of The Eton Rifles, with Foxton's bass rumbling so much one could feel it in their chest.



All of the tracks played, from what I can remember, and they're out of order after the first four: In The City, Modern World, All Mod Cons, To Be Someone, It's Too Bad, David Watts, In The Crowd, 'A' Bomb, Tube Station, Little Boy Soldiers, Private Hell, Smithers-Jones, Eton Rifles, Pretty Green, Start!, Town Called Malice, The Gift, So Sad About Us, Butterfly Collector, Going Underground, News Of The World, When You're Young, Strange Town. A frentic set with about the only respite being In The Crowd; Hastings chucked his suit coat fairly early, and I was amazed that Foxton kept his on as long as he did what with his tireless leaping about.




Hugh Cornwell, ex-singer of the Stranglers, played a well-received opening set composed of half Stranglers songs and half of his solo material; of course the Stranglers stuff was better received, but his new material sounded excellent, apparently an album is coming out in a couple of months. His band consisted of a couple of a young male drummer and a young female bassist; the drummer was in constant motion while the bassist did a good job of anchoring the sound of the band together. Couldn't tell you what the solo tracks were, a new one with the name of Trowbridge in it was the only one I heard, but we did get worked-over takes on Grip, Peaches, Nice n' Sleazy, Tank, No More Heroes, Down In The Sewer and best of all, a manic version of G.m.b.h (Bear Cage) that I never wanted to end. Well done Hugh, it was an excellent show from you as well!